Holding On and Letting Go
by luv2beloved
Summary: Life for the Dixons change drastically after an accident that left Daryl with no memory or skills. Merle is on the hunt to find someone that can help his baby brother. Carol is on the run and needs to get out of her abusive relationship. She comes across an ad looking for a live in nurse. Merle and her come to an agreement. Neither one bargained for love. AU but maybe ZA later.


**This is my first Walking Dead story. So hopefully it will flow like the way I see it in my head. Thanks in advance.**

Chapter 1

Merle Dixon paced the hospital room. The waiting was killing him. This was not how he planned to spend his Saturday evening. He and his brother Daryl where to be at the bar right now. Working on a bottle of Southern Comfort. Looking at the barflies and planning on which one was going to worth their time. Well, at least worth Merle's time. He knew Daryl wasn't into the random fuck.

Merle walked pass the double doors that led into the operating room. The same doors that Daryl was last seen entering about eight hours earlier.

"How much, God damned fuckin' longer," Merle growled. He saw the nurse jump as she walked by. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Merle sat on on of the hard ass chairs with nothing else to do but wait.

He put his head on the wall behind him and closed his eyes.

The day started off like any other. The Dixon brothers made the plans Friday after work. Both had Saturday off and and since it marked the start of bow season on deer. Daryl jumped at the opportunity for him and Merle to go off into the woods. They left Merle's bike at the shop that the two of them worked and drove together in Daryl's old rusted out red Ford F-250. With only a few hours left of daylight, they managed to get the truck packed and ready to go.

Merle slammed the tailgate closed. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He shook on out for him before handing the pack to Daryl. "Leavin' at three?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, get there early. Set up camp and then hunt. Do the same Sunday and plan on being back home by the evenin'"

"Ok, Lil' Brother, I'm going to go crash on your couch."

That was twenty-seven hours earlier. Then all hell broke loose. A large buck ran across the road. Daryl over corrected to not hit it and by doing so the truck rolled off the road and landed on the driver side. For the first time in Merle's life he was thankful for the cop that was a few cars behind them on the curvy section of Highway 411. Merle only suffered few scratches and a broken collar bone. Daryl however was unconscious when Merle signed his name for the emergency surgery.

"Merle Dixon," a male voice sounded int he quiet corridor of the OR waiting room.

Merle stood up, his knees popping as he stretched. He looked up to the clock and was shocked to see that it was ten. The sun shined on the outside world as life continued on.

"So, what's up, Doc? When can I get my brother home?"

|  
>The doctor eyed Merle with a lifted eyebrow and his lip turned down. Merle got a bad feeling in his stomach. He could tell immediately that it wasn't good. The doctor nodded his head to the left and Merle went to follow him through the darkened room. The lights came on upon them entering and the doctor put his clipboard on the table. It was after the doctor sat that Merle saw how old and tired he looked.<p>

"My name is Dr. Harrison. I was the on call surgeon when your brother came in," Merle nodded and he watched as the doctor opened his chart with heavy sigh. "Daryl suffered a massive head injury. We were able to get the bleeding to stop. However, the amount of blood put a great deal of pressure on his brain. It is draining. But, his heart stopped while in surgery. It stopped for about ten minutes..."

Merle slid back on his chair roughly. The chair fell back and hit the granite tiled floor. Merle paced the small room like a caged animal. Merle stuck his hand in his pocket to pull out his cigarettes but then remember he smoked the last one several hour prior.

"You tellin' me my baby brother is dead?" Merle turned on the older man.

Merle watched has the doctor swallowed. "No," Merle breathed out a lung full of air. "But, he's not out of the woods by a long shot."

Merle slammed his hands on the table. "Dammit, Doc, give it to me straight. What the hell is wrong with my brother?"

"We will not know the extant of his injuries until he wakes up. Thankfully, there was not any spinal injuries. But since his heart stopped for a good deal of time, his brain suffered even more so."

"He brain dead?"

The doctor shook his head. "From all the reading, everything seems to working. But we will not know until he wakes up. He could have suffered memory loss, his right side could be partially paralyzed. He is currently in a medically induced coma to give his brain some time to heal. All I do know is that Daryl will need a lot of help for a few weeks, if not forever. Until he can grasp doing things on his own again."

"If he can ever be on his own," Merle muttered. Merle hated to have others help him and he knew that Daryl was the same way. The two of them have been on their own since they were kids. The Dixon brothers where set to be reckoned with and everyone in the small town knew not to cross them. Now though, one Dixon was down, maybe for a few weeks, maybe forever.

"So, when will he wake up?" Merle asked "And what do I need to do?"

"Daryl is in ICU right now, we will keep him there until he wakes up. I plan on taking the medicine away in forty-eight hours and then a few days afterwards to monitor him more closely. Depending on that will determine next course of action. He may need physical and or mental therapy. But, one thing I need to stress Mr. Dixon, don't be surprised if and when Daryl wakes up, that he will remember anything. The part of the brain that the glass severed is were we store our memories."

Merle grunted. "Lil' brother can't ever forget about Ol' Merle."

The doctor nodded. "I suggest you get with home health services as well. Establish a nurse that can come her and work with him as well as be at his home. That way there will be someone familiar. I can get you list of providers."

Merle shook his head. "I don't know what the insurance is going to cover. We have just the cheap thing that work gave us. And then the truck insurance."

"There are financial options. You can also put an ad in the paper for a live in nurse, that way you can come to your own payment arrangements," Dr. Harrison smiled.

Merle didn't like the doctor's smile. It was like he was thinking about an inside joke. He chuckled, then shook his head.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, just thinking how I had a friend that would have done this for free just to get out of her parents home many moons ago."

"What do you mean?"

"She hated living with her parents, mainly her father. The only way that her parents would let her leave is when she was married. Lucky for her, her father passed away before she fully accepted a marriage proposal."

Merle bit his lip "You saying I get my brother hitched to a nurse? And she works for free." Merle shook his head. "No way in fuckin' hell. Dixons don't get married. I'll find someone."

Dr. Harrison looked down to his phone with a frown. "I need to go, your brother is in ICU room 4. You can go down there anytime. The nurses will be in to check on him and know to call me as soon as he wakes up."

Dr. Harrison made for the door and held it open for Merle to pass through. "Nurse Ginny, can you take Mr. Dixon to the ICU and show him to his brothers room."

The brown haired nurse stopped and nodded. Merle recognized her as the one that jumped a few hours earlier. She nodded and a whispered follow me. Merle was happy to oblige. The dark blue scrub pants hugged her ass. The view was much better in the hospital now that Merle knew his brother was at least going to be alright. Well, he might be alright.


End file.
